Worst Cookbooks of 2010: What Not to Give for Christmas

Cookbooks are the perfect gift for anyone who likes to cook (or pretends they do), but before you rush out to buy the year’s best-sellers for your favorite home chefs, you might want to make sure it’s not on doctors’ list of Worst Cookbooks of 2010. The list, released by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), highlights the year’s unhealthiest recipe collections, penned by the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Ina Garten:

But it’s not all bad news: The PCRM also has a guide to the Best and Worst Cookbooks of the Decade, so you can make sure the cookbook you gift this holiday season is one that will help, not hurt, your giftee:

The Sublime Restaurant Cook, by Nanci Alexander — These vegan recipes are based on the menu at Alexander’s award-winning restaurant in Florida, and they’re completely cholesterol-free.

The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone — Alicia Silverstone’s vegan cookbook has tips and tools to help readers transition to a plant-based diet, which is proven to lower cholesterol.

The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen — Another vegan choice, this Seattle-based chef’s recipes combine easy, every day recipes with a few gourmet options to impress guests or treat yourself to an elaborate, meat-free meal.

The Engine 2 Diet by By Rip Esselstyn — This is the diet that Rip Esselstyn used to whip fellow firefighters into shape when he found out that several of them had dangerously high cholesterol. His recipes use plants, whole grains, nuts and seeds to create healthy, nutritious meals, minus unhealthy fats.

Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello — If you hadn’t gathered by now, low-to-no meat diets are what really make the PCRM happy, and this book is no exception: Christina Pirello’s recipes encourage home cooks to cut out animal products and processed foods to encourage good health.

Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry — The PCRM may have knocked Trisha Yearwood’s Southern-style recipes for being unhealthy, but that doesn’t mean that all comfort food from the south is a heart-attack in the making. Bryant Terry’s meat- and dairy-free soul food is all the more comforting for the fact that it won’t raise your cholesterol or cause cancer.

Wow! Great reporting job. Just quote from the press release without doing any investigating of the vegan propagnadists’ claims. Where can I get a job like yours that lets me get paid for rephrasing what other people write?

Kathy

When did Trisha Yearwood say her cookbook ws healthy. It is for when you want comfort food. You aren”t suppose to eat the entire Garth bowl by yourself, are you not eating with some moderation. You don’t eat anything to excess. Moderation is the key. Balance in life. I enjoy recipes out of the cookbook from time to time but she has stated you want heart healthy buy another cookbook.

Lauren L.

sigh.. if you cited one other organization besides the PCRM, this list would be a little bit more credible to me..